Zillow: Orlando rents slow to rise, with some exceptions

Osceola County's Celebration community had Metro Orlando's sharpest spike in rental rates during the past year, a new report shows.

Apartments and houses in the community originally developed by the Walt Disney Co. jumped more than 18 percent during the past 12 months — an increase six times greater than that of the Orlando metropolitan area overall, according to an August report released Monday by Zillow. The company tracks rental rates and home values throughout the country.

The Celebration rental market may have gotten a price boost by the opening of new apartment complexes, Jodi Meyers, office manager for Century 21 in Celebration.

"A lot of people want to move in here, and they rent before they buy just to see how they like it," said Meyers, who has rented in Celebration for about 10 years. Rentals are now in so much demand at the pedestrian-friendly development that Century 21 is getting ready to launch a property-management business there, she said.

Median rents in both Winter Park and Kissimmee increased about 8.2 percent during the past year. Only a few parts of the four-county metro area, including Umatilla and Tavares, recorded year-over-year declines in rents as of August.

Metro Orlando's rental rates are increasing slowly compared with the area's fast-rising home prices. But Orlando rents are already much closer to the national average than the region's home prices are to U.S. prices overall, the Zillow report shows.

The median rent in Metro Orlando during August was $1,246 — only about $50 a month less than the national average. In comparison, the median Metro Orlando house price was $143,000 — about $20,000 below the national average.

The region's most-expensive rents in August were in Windermere ($2,244), Winter Park ($1,666) and Lake Mary ($1,594). The most affordable Central Florida cities or areas for renters during August were Leesburg ($941), Poinciana ($948) and Pine Hills ($974).